


Turning Around Like A Top

by amethystfox



Series: I Could Live a Little More [8]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Confrontations, Jazzaniga, M/M, POV: Eric, POV: Jan, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Protective Eric Dier, Protectiveness, Suspected Infidelity, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur FC - Freeform, deledier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:14:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethystfox/pseuds/amethystfox
Summary: May 2019Confronting him was about the last thing Eric wanted to do, but he couldn't think of any way around it.It just... wasn't right.
Relationships: Dele Alli/Eric Dier, Paulo Gazzaniga/Jan Vertonghen
Series: I Could Live a Little More [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1621807
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Turning Around Like A Top

May 2019  
Hampstead

  
  
  


Sophie let out a startled little laugh, prompting Jan to look up from his book at her. She was staring at her phone.

"What's up?" he asked her.

She covered her mouth with one hand. "I probably shouldn't laugh but… you should really see this." She held out the phone, and Jan took it, mildly curious.

He was not at all expecting to see it was a text from Dier.

_ >>From: Eric D [19:38]: hey, I need to talk to you _  
_ >>From: Eric D [19:38]: preferably when Jan's not around _

_ <<To: Eric D [19:39]: sure, but why when he's not around? _

_ >>From: Eric D [19:39]: dont want to get into it over text, there's just something I'm worried about _

Jan frowned. "What would he be worried about that he would want to talk to you about without me around?"

Sophie shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but it's always so cute when he does the big brother thing."

Jan snorted. "A bit silly, you mean. He's younger than you."

"Which is what makes it so cute." She grinned at him. "I have an idea. You go upstairs..."

  
  


***

  
  


Eric shifted his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably as he waited for the door to open. He didn't like this at all, any of it, but he couldn't see any better way out. Sophie deserved to know.

She gave him a sweet smile and a kiss on the cheek as she opened the door, which only made it worse. "Hi, Eric. Come on in."

"Thanks," he mumbled, following her inside.

When they were seated on the couch, she raised an eyebrow at him. "So what's wrong then?"

Eric took a deep breath. There was nothing for it but to just dive in. He reached over on impulse and took her hand gently in both of his. "There's no easy way to say this, so I guess I'd better just spit it out. I… I think Jan is cheating on you."

She blinked at him, her lips twitching slightly. "I… see. What makes you say that?"

He grimaced. "Lots of little things. Mich said something that made me wonder, and then… I mean, he's been acting shifty for a while now, coming up with lame excuses to why he can't come round as much. There's been times he said he had to get home to spend time with you, but then he'd drive off in the wrong direction. I've seen more hickeys on him the last month or so than I ever have before, in all the years we've been friends. And…" He stopped and fidgeted, feeling his ears go red. "I, um, I didn't mean to, but I saw him in his car one time, talking on the phone, and he, ah…"

"He what?" Sophie said. She seemed unusually calm about all of this. _Maybe she's in shock._

Eric knew his entire neck had to be crimson by now. "He looked like… like he was having phone sex with someone," he said awkwardly, hating every single second of this. _"Please_ don't ask me to describe it any more than that."

"And you're sure it wasn't with me?"

"I mean, if it was, then great, none of my business what you two do. It just… well, like I said, he'd just been acting shifty, that night, and other times too."

Sophie bit her lip. "Do you know who it is?"

He shook his head.

"Hmm. So you came here tonight to what, warn me? Tell me to leave him, or something?"

He shook his head. "N-no, not at all, I just… thought you deserved to know. I didn't like to stand back and watch you get hurt, you know?"

She sat back, nodding thoughtfully.

"I just… you two are good together, and you're my friends. Hate to see anything go wrong. I don't mean to interfere, I just want to… to… help," he trailed off. Sophie's head was down now, her shoulders shaking.

"Hey, now," he said, terrified. "It's going to be okay, somehow. I-- ugh, I could _kill_ Jan for doing this to you--"

He was cut off when he realised that Sophie wasn't crying at all, she was laughing. She sank back against the couch cushions, giggling so hard that tears actually were leaking from her eyes.

"What the hell?" He frowned. _Is laughing the usual way to react when you find out your husband's stepping out on you?_

"Eric," she gasped, squeezing his hand. "You sweet, sweet boy. I love you for being so concerned."

"Uh, no problem, but… you're not upset?"

She ignored him, getting to her feet and going to the foot of the stairs. "Jan, darling, would you come down here, please?"

Eric's heart slammed into his throat. _Fuck, what is happening? If I'm wrong, he's going to be so mad at me…_

He sat frozen in terrified indecision, contemplating making a run for it, but there were quick footsteps on the stairs and then Jan appeared. He looked… well, he looked like he had just been in bed with… who? His shirt was half untucked, his lips were swollen and bruised-looking, there were bite marks and at least one hickey on his neck, and his eyes were dark and sleepy-looking. And unless Eric was mistaken, it looked like he was hard in his jeans.

_What the hell is going on here?_

Sophie crossed her arms and scowled at him. "Eric seems to think that you're sleeping with someone else, Jan. He saw you having phone sex in the car. What do you have to say for yourself?"

_I should not be here for this,_ Eric thought frantically. _Maybe I can still escape. Shit, Jan's right in the way…_

"I'm sorry, Sophie," Jan said contritely.

"As you should be," she said sternly. "I thought you two were going to be discreet. Not very discreet if Eric was able to figure it out, are you?"

_"What?"_ Eric burst out. "I-- what the hell?"

Sophie turned to him, looking surprised. "Why, is something the matter, Eric?"

"You-- but he--"

Sophie started laughing again, to Eric's dismay. "Oh, I'm sorry, Eric," she said around her giggles. "I shouldn't tease you. You meant well." She came and sat on the couch again, taking his hand. "You're absolutely right, about all of it. Jan _is_ involved with someone besides me. You're very observant. The only thing you got wrong is thinking that I didn't know, that it was cheating."

Eric was completely speechless at this point. He stared at Sophie, then at Jan, and back to Sophie. He felt as though his brain had completely shut down.

Jan came over to join Sophie on the couch, putting his arm around her. "We have an open marriage," Jan explained, and Sophie nodded. "We talked about it before I… well, before I got involved with anyone."

"I… oh," Eric said somewhat lamely. "Um… sorry."

Jan shook his head. "Don't be. You were trying to be a good friend, based on the information you had. And it's good to find out that I wasn't being as discreet as I thought, especially from someone I trust." He paused. "I'm assuming you understand that this needs to be kept secret, yes?"

Eric nodded, feeling rather numb. "'Course. You've kept quiet about me and Del for years, no chance I'd pay you back with anything less."

Jan smiled then. "Yeah, that's true. And honestly, I'm kind of glad you know. I've wanted to tell you, talk to you about it, for ages now."

"Oh, um, I mean, if you want, I'm happy to listen," Eric said awkwardly. He didn't particularly fancy the idea of Jan telling him about his relationship with some other woman, even if Sophie was somehow okay with it. It just didn't sit quite right with him.

Jan seemed to hesitate now. "I need to go make sure it's okay first, though, before I tell you who it is. Be right back." And he got to his feet, hurrying back up the stairs.

Eric watched him go, still reeling somewhat. After a minute he cleared his throat and looked back at Sophie. "You… you're really okay with this? With… not being the only woman in his life?"

She nodded, smiling merrily. "Of course, although that's… not entirely accurate."

Eric blinked. Was she saying…?

He didn't have any time to process the implication though, because Jan was coming back down the stairs, hand in hand with…

"Paulo?" Eric blurted out. "It's-- you-- with _Paulo?"_

Jan nodded, his eyes dancing with mischief. "Which is why it doubly needs to be secret, yeah?"

Eric's head was spinning all over again. "Yeah, sure," he muttered. "I didn't have any idea that you were… that either of you were…"

Paulo shrugged. "No reason you should have," he said, his deep voice dark and rumbly. "We work hard to keep anyone from guessing, for a long time."

"How… long…?"

"What, us? Not that long," Jan assured him. "It's only been since… well, right after we made it to the semifinals. Paulo just means, we've both been hiding that we weren't straight for a long time."

"Oh," Eric said, relaxing slightly. He didn't quite know why, but the assurance that he hadn't missed the two of them being together, right under his nose, for long was somehow comforting. "Yeah, I know how that bit goes, been trying to hide that pretty much all my life."

To his surprise Paulo looked puzzled. "Really?"

"Wait, you haven't told him?" Eric asked Jan, surprised.

"Of course not," Jan said indignantly. "Just because we're together doesn't mean you had given me the okay to tell him, did it? Especially since you didn't know about him."

Sophie rubbed her forehead. "All this 'who knows what' is exhausting," she complained. "I'm going to go read in my office for a bit." She leaned over and kissed Jan. "You boys have fun."

Paulo and Jan stepped away from the stairs to let her pass, moving over to the couch. To Eric's astonishment, Paulo sat first, then pulled Jan down into his lap.

Eric cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably. Paulo was kissing Jan's neck now, and Jan's face was flushed. It felt like they had forgotten Eric was there at all.

"Sorry," Jan mumbled, seeing Eric's embarrassment. "Once… once someone knows about us, it's like a switch flips in him, and there's no hiding it at all."

"And why not?" Paulo rumbled, not bothering to lift his face from Jan's neck. "If I had my way, the entire world would know that you are mine."

"That doesn't mean Eric wants to see it," Jan said, but his voice was hardly more than a moan.

Eric cleared his throat again, feeling more out of his depth than ever. "I, um, it's fine, you do whatever," he said. "But we got a little off track. If… I guess if you're okay with me knowing about you two, there's no reason for Paulo not to know my secret."

Jan raised an eyebrow. "But… don't you need to ask…?"

Eric shook his head. "He doesn't care. Or maybe he trusts me not to tell anyone that would be a risk, or something. Anyway, kind of like you… he's said before that he wants the whole world to know."

"That's sweet," Jan said, though his voice was shaky, owing to the fact that Paulo now had his mouth on one of Jan's ears.

"And so?" Paulo prompted, when Eric lost track of what he had been saying, staring at Paulo's hands roaming across Jan's chest and stomach.

Eric closed his eyes to keep from getting any more distracted by the way Jan's eyes drifted shut and his head sagged back onto Paulo's shoulder. "It's just… Dele and me. Are together. Have been for a couple years now."

"Ah," Paulo murmured. "I thought that might be it. I see the way you look at each other."

Eric made a face. "Yeah, I think everyone does," he said. "We've been trying to cut back on how much we show in public, but the damage may be done."

Jan shook his head dismissively. "I doubt it," he said, catching Paulo's hand just as it was about to sneak up under his shirt. "People see what they want to see. The ones that are okay with the idea might suspect the truth, but the ones that don't will just see it as a bromance."

Paulo growled softly and bit at Jan's neck, making him squeak and let go of Paulo's hand. It immediately slid up under Jan's shirt, dragging the hem up as Paulo's fingers made their way up to Jan's chest.

Eric tore his eyes away from Jan's exposed abs and coughed. "I, um. I should go," he said weakly, getting to his feet. "I should, uh… go see how Dele is."

Paulo let out a low, rich laugh. "You do that," he breathed, nipping at Jan's jawline. "You go take care of Dele. Like I am going to take care of Jan."

Eric choked on that, but Jan just let out a soft sigh. "Okay, but… we should go back upstairs," he murmured. "You know Sophie doesn't like it when we fuck on the couch…"

Eric fled before he had to listen to Paulo's response to that.

**Author's Note:**

> Eric inadvertently caught Jan on the phone with Paulo back in [Chapter 14](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375177/chapters/55219912#workskin) of the main narrative.
> 
> Title comes from the song "Family" by Gaia Consort.


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